Method of and apparatus for making rolled forcings by electricity



(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1.

G. D.- BURTON.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING ROLLED FORGINGS BY ELECTRICITY. No. 427,151.

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Patented May 6, 1890.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2,

G. D. BURTON. METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING ROLLED FORGINGS BY ELECTRICITY. No. 427,151. Patented May 6, 1890 WITNESSES .dttorney (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3. G. D. BURTON.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING ROLLED PORGINGS BY ELECTRICITY.

(No Model.) v w 4 Sheets-Sheet 4. G. D. BURTON. METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING ROLLED PORGINGS BY ELECTRICITY.

N0. 427,151. Patented May 6,1890.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE D. BURTON, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING ROLLED FORGINGS BY ELECTRIClTY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 427,151, dated May 6, 1890.

Application filed December 21, 1889. Serial No. 334,499. (Nomodeld To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE D. BURTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invention certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Forging Processes and Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to aproeess and ap paratus for making forgings, in which a current of electricity is employed for heating the material being forged.

In the accompanying drawings the invention is illustrated as applied to a machine for making rolled forgings-such, for instance, as machine-handles, anti-friction balls, shuttle tips, spinning-spindles, shoe corks, conical shells, serew-bolts, and similar articles; but the invention may be used in forging other articles of regular or irregular shapes.

Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings is an end elevation of a roll-forging machine embodying my improvement. Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the mechanism constituting a bar-feeder for intermittently feeding the bar from which the forgings are rolled. Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevation, partly in section, of a portion of the barfeeder. Fig. at is an enlarged elevation of the circuit-changer for automatically closing an electric circuit through the bar to heat it and for automatieally breaking the circuit while the article is being forged to prevent electrically charging the dies and other parts of the machine, the parts being in the position which they assume when the current is broken. Fig. 5 represents the switclrlevcr and actuatingcam of the circuit-changer in position of closing the circuit. Fig. 6 is a section on line 6 (5 of Fig. 4, showing the switch-plate, the switch, and the contact-studs. Fig. '7 is an enlarged plan view of an automatic adjustable electrode for applying the current to the outer end of the bar or blank. Fig. 8 is a transverse section of the adjustable electrode on line 8 S of Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is an enlarged side elevation of the bar-feeder the parts thereof being in the positions which they assume after retraction preparatory to the feeding operation. Fig. 10 is an enlarged side elevation of the bar-feeder, the parts being in the position which they assume after the feeding and before retraction.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures.

The drawings represent my invention as applied to a roll-forging machine having an oscillating curved die and a reciprocating horizontal die; but the invention may be applied to other roll-forging machines, such, for instance, as those having two rotary dies.

In the drawings referred to the frame supports a flat bed or table 21, having longitudinal guideways 22 and 23 and a central longitudinal groove 2i. The frame is also provided at opposite sides centrally of its length with upright standards and 26 and with a block 27. A reciprocating carriage 30 is supported 011 said table and guidedin said guideways or tracks. This table is provided on its under side with a rack 31 and on its upper side with a rack A shaft 40, provided with a pinion 41, which engages the under rack 31 for reciprocating the carriage, is supported in bearings in the table 21 and provided at its outer end with a gear 2. A driving-shaft is journaled at one end in the frame 20 and at the other end in a standard 51 ad jaccnt to the frame. This shaft is provided with two fast pulleys 52 and 5-1; and two loose pulleys 53 and 55, whereby an oscillating motion may be imparted to the driving-shaft by means of a crossed belt, a straight belt, and a belt-shipper. The driving-shaft 50 is provided with a pinion 56, which meshes with the gear 12 on the shaft 40. A diewheel shaft 00 is journaled at its opposite ends in adjustable bearings of the upright standards 25 and 20. This shaft is provided with a die-wheel 61 and with a gear 62. A stub-shaft is journaled in the block 27, attached to the table 21. This stub-shaft is provided at its inner end with a pinion 71, which meshes with the upper rack of the reciprocating carriage 30, and also with the gear 62 of the die-wheel shaft 00, whereby motion is communicated from the reciprocating carriage to the die-wheel shaft. A horizontal die is secured to the reciproeating carriage, and an arc-shaped die 81 is secured to the periphery of the die-wheel 61. The die-faces of these dies are shaped to correspond with the article to be produced and have forming, reducing, and spreading surfaces which taper from their initial to their finishing ends.

The blank or bar from which the articles are to be forged is guided and sup ported in an insulated eye 90 in the standard 26 and in an insulated eye 91, located near the dies in a bracket 92, which is screwed to the horizontal arm of the standard 26.

The bar-feeder for intermittently feeding the bars to the dies comprises, when constructed as herein shown, a movable clamping-sleeve 110, a lever 120, connected with said sleeve for reci 'n'ocating it, and a cam 130 on the shaft 60 for actuating said lever; but any equivalent bar-feeder may be employed without departing from the spirit of my invention. The sleeve is provided on its upper side with a slot .111 and on opposite sides of said slot with ears 112, and a pivotpin 113 extends through said cars. A disk 114 is pivoted eceentrically on said pivot-pin and swings forward in said slot. The position of the disk is such that it will swing freely as the blank is inserted or the sleeve moved out.- ward; but when the sleeve is moved inward the disk bites the bar and causes it to move with the sleeve. The sleeve 110 is provided on its under side with an insulating guidelug 115, which engages aguide-rail116,attached to the frame. The sleeve is also provided at opposite sides with laterally-projecting studs 117, which are insulated from the body of the sleeve. The lever is provided at its upper end with an anti-friction roller or stud 121 for engaging the groove of the cam 130, and at its lower end with a slot or slots 122, which are engaged by the studs 117 of the sleeve 110. The leveris preferably bifurcated at its lower end, so as to straddle said sleeve. This lever is pivoted on a pivotbelt 125, which passes through a bracket 126, attached to the standard 26,and it is preferably constructed with a number of pivot-holes 128, whereby its pivot may be adjusted to increase or decrease the feed. The cam is provided with a peripheral groove 131, which extends at one end laterally in an abrupt bend for causing a quick forward feeding of the bar and return of the sleeve.

An electric cable is connected with the positive pole of a dyna1no-eleetrie machine, and a cable is connected with the negative pole thereof, or vice versa. One end of the cable 140 is connected with a circuitehanger 160, and a cable 141 is connected at one end to said circuit-changer and provided at the other end with an adjustable clamp 14:2 for engaging the bar 100 at the rear of the bar-feeder, said clamp being provided with a loose collar 143, which permits the bar to turn axially under the action of the dies. The end of the cable 150 is connected with an automatically-adjustable electrode for contact with the front end of the bar after it has been fed forward.

Any suitable circuit-changer may be employed. The circuit-changer herein shown comprises a plate 161, studs 162 and 16 3, extending through said plate and insulated therefrom, a switch-lever 164, pivoted to the stud 162, a spring for holding said switchrlever out of contact with the stud 163, and a cam 166 on the die-shaft 66 for swinging said lever into contact with the stud 163 for closing the circuit. The end of the switch-lever 164: is provided with an insulator 167 to insulate it from the cam 166. An insulator 168 is inserted between the switch-lever and its spring. The inner end of the stud 162 is conneeted with the cable 1&0, and the inner end of the stud 163 is connected with the cable 141. The plate 161 is provided with vertical slots 169, which permit its rise and fall with the vertical. adjustment of the shaft 60 and its bearings. An insulated handle 16-1 may be applied to the switch-lever for operating it by hand.

The adjustable electrode 170, herein shown, comprises a movable stud 171, connected at one end to the cable 150 and projecting at the other end into the path of the bar 100 on the front side of the dies. A horizontal arm 172, provided with a longitudinal slot 173, is attached at one end to the block 27 and extends parallel with the line of feed of the bar. An insulating spool or slide 174: is inserted in the slot 17 3 of this bar and carries the movable stud 171 and insulates it from the bar. A spring is interposed between one end of the slot and said slide and tends to push the latter toward the dies and bring the outer end of the movable stud into contact with the front end of the bar as it is fed forward. The outer end of the slot 173 may serve as a stop to arrest the movement of the slide and prevent contact of the movable stud with the dies.

I do not confine myself to applying my improved process to making rolled forgin gs, as it is equally well adapted for use in making drop or other forgings where the metal is heated before being acted upon by the dies.

The operation is as follows: The dies being retracted and the circuitbroken, as illustrated in Fig. a bar 100 from which the articles are to be forged is passed through the insulated eye 90, through the insulated clampingsleeve 110, and through the insulated eye 91, between the reciprocatingcarriage SO and diewheel 61, into contact with the automaticallyadjustable electrode 170. The adjustable clamp 14-2, constituting the other electrode or terminal, is then applied to the outer end of the bar. The operator may then close the circuit through the bar by swinging the switch lever 164: into contact with the stud 163, and a current of large volume is thereby passed through the bar. The resistance of the bar being much greater than that of the conducting-cables, heat is rapidly developed in the bar according to the well-known principle of electric action. The circuit is held closed until the bar is raised to a forging heat, and

the switch -lever is then released and the spring 165 swings it out of contact with the stud 163 and breaks the circuit. The machine is then started and the arcshaped die 81 oscillated in the direction of the arrow 180, and the reciprocating die 30 moves in the direction of the arrow 181. During this operation the circuit remains broken, no current passing through the bar, and the article to be produced, as 200, is roll-forged by the axial rotation of the bar between the dies at right angles to the movement thereof, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 9. The carriage 30 and the diewheel 61 move a sufficient distance in the direction of the arrow 180 and 181 to carry the dies entirely past the bar 100 and out of contact therewith, as illustrated in Fig. 5. As soon as the bar is released from the dies the lower end of the cam 166 strikes the insulated face of the switch-lever 161 and swings it into contact with the stud163, thereby closing the circuit and switching a current of large volume through the bar for heating it. The beltshipper is then so actuated in any well-known manner, automatically or otherwise, as to reverse the movements of the carriage, and the die-wheel and the dies 80 and 81 are retracted in the direction of the arrows 190 and 191 into the position shown in Fig. 4. After this reversal and before the rear ends of the dies in their backward stroke come in contact with the forged end 200 of the bar the switch-lever 16s is released by the cam 166 and the circuit opened by the action of the spring 165, so that no current passes through. the bar while the dies are in contact therewith during the retracting operation. As soon as the dies are fully retracted out of contact with the bar the upper end of the cam 166 swings the switch-lever 164 again into contact with the stud 163 and turns on the current for heating the bar. The bar is thus subjected to a heating-current at each end of the die-strokes. The belt-shipper may be so actuated as to cause a dwell of the driving-belts on the loose pulleys at each reversal for a sufiicient time to cause the proper heating of the bar, it found necessary, as may be the case when bars of comparatively large size are being forged. \Vhen the retraction of the dies is nearly completed, the angular portion of the cam-groove 131 of the cam 130 comes in contact with the pin 121 of the lever 120 and swings said lever from the position shown in Fig. 9 to the position shown in Fig. 10. This action of the lever moves the sleeve 110 toward the dies, and the eccentric clamp 114 on said sleeve grips the bar and causes it to feed forward. in a direction at right angles to the movement of the dies and into the path thereof and into contact with the electrode 171. When the machine is reversed for a forward motion of the dies to effect the forging operation, the cam-groove 131 of the cam 130 instantly returns the lever 120 into the position shown in Fig. 9, whereby the sleeve 110 is retracted into position for effecting the next feed of the bar, as shown in Fig. 9. This retraction of the sleeve releases the grip of its clamp from the bar, whereby the latter is left free to rotate under the action of the dies. The forged article 200, which is held to the bar by a small lin, maybe knocked off by the operator or by mechanical means, or may fall of its own weight.

I claim as my invention 1. That improvement in the art of making metallic forgin gs which consists in passing a bar or red of the material to be forged by successive steps between forging-dies, subjecting the bar or red to the softening action of a current of electricity at such times as it is free from the dies, and withholding the current when saidrod is in contact with the dies.

2. The improved process of making rolled forging-s, which consists in subjecting the m aterial to a heating-current of electricity upon its separation from the forging-dies and freeing it from said current before contact with said dies.

3. The improved process of making metallic forgings, which consists in subjecting the material to a softening-current of electricity while out of contact with the forming-dies, said current being broken as the dies engage the material and closed as they leave it, substantially as described.

4.. The method of roll-forging articles from a metallic bar, which consists in subjecting said bar to the action of a heating-current of electricity and to a rolling operation at right angles to the axis of the bar.

5. The method of roll-forging articles from a metallic bar, which consists in subjecting said bar to a succession of rolling operations at right angles to the axis of the bar and to a heating-current of electricity between the successive rolling operations.

6. The method of roll-forging articles from a metallic bar, which consists in subjecting the bar to a succession of rolling operations at right angles to the axis of the bar, intermittently feeding said bar between said rolling operations, and subjecting the bar intermittently to the action of a heating-current of electricity between the rolling operations.

7. The combination of two movable dies, a bar-feeder for feeding a bar at right angles to the movements of the dies, and an electric circuit for passing a heating-current through said bar.

S. The combination of two roll-forging dies, at bar-feeder for intermittently feeding a metallic bar at right angles to the path of the dies, an electric circuit for passing a heatingeurrent through said bar, and an automatic circuitchanger for holding the circuit open while the dies are in action.

9. The combination of two roll-forging dies, a bar-feeder for intermittently feeding a 111etallic bar at right angles to the path of the dies, and an electric circuit provided with adjustable terminals for connection with said bar.

10. The combination of two dies, an insulated bar-support, an insulated bar-feeder, and an electric circuit for heating the bar being operated on.

11. The combination of two dies, an insulated bar-support, an insulated bar-feeder, an electric circuit for heating the bar being operated on, and an automatic circuit-changer for holding the circuit open While the dies are in contact With the bar and closing the circuit when the dies release the bar.

12. The combination of forging-dies, insulated supports for the blank to be forged, a movable clamping-sleeve, a lever connected with said sleeve for reciprocating it, and a cam for oscillating said lever.

13. The combination of forging-dies, insulated supports for the blank to be forged, a sleeve provided with an eccentric clampingdisk, a lever connected with said sleeve for reciprocating it, a cam for actuating said lever, and an electric circuit having two adjustable electrodes for connection with said bar.

14: The combination of two forging-dies, a bar-feeder for feeding a bar to said dies, and adjustable electrodes for passing a heatingcurrent through said bar.

15. An adjustable electrode for a forgingmachine, comprising a slotted arm, a slide supported on said arm and insulated therefrom, and a spring for actuating said slide, said slide being connected with an electric circuit and provided with a stud for contact with the blank to be heated.

GEO. D. BURTON. W'itnesses:

E. F. PHILIPSON, CHAS. F. ADAMS. 

